Chaska Herald - Chaska teen faces charges after fatal assault - Comments

Deep down on the inside i

opie2009 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:00:45 -0600

Deep down on the inside i can feel that my good friend for many years is going to beat this case against him, because he was not at fault for doing what he did. In my mind he did the right thing. Sure he took someones life but that action wasn't for no reason. He was trying to stand up for someone who couldn't stand up for themselves. So in my mind i feel like he did the right thing.
Good luck Brody I'm praying for you buddy, and just remember to keep your head up. All these other people are just hating on you because they cant do anything else.
Good Luck

Too awilliams1163: Court was

Forever_Remembered — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:37:54 -0600

Too awilliams1163: Court was last week and we are waiting for the outcome as to whether Brody will be charged as an adult. I hope for the sake of the pain this has caused this outcome turns out right, not that anything is right with losing JR. I in all honestly dont think that Brody (or his mother) will ever know or care about the pain they have caused us. Hopefully we will know the results with in the next couple weeks!

The family men are all here

awilliams1163 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:31:30 -0600

The family men are all here hunting and JR is not with them but the person resonsible for his brutal death is living his life as if nothing happened. Well to bad something did happen Brody took another man's life and he has to answer to us all. So does anyone out there in Chaska Minn have any news on the court date and if not why? If anyone thinks we will forget JR they are sadly mistaken!!

It has been almost 3 months

MyAngel22 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:08:50 -0600

It has been almost 3 months since this has happened and i am sorry but my uncle is still dead! brody has taken from me something that is irreplaceable my only UNCLE! JR made bad choices but can you honestly say you have made all the right ones? JR had a big heart and none of you would know that cause you didnt know him! before you write anything think about his daughter, his nephew, and nieces. Have a heart. cause god knows this isnt easy for any of my family!

The hearing ended up having

Mollee Francisco — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:09:07 -0500

The hearing ended up having to be rescheduled from Oct. 1 but a new date has not been made as of yet.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

I still haven't been able to

awilliams1163 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:49:43 -0500

I still haven't been able to find out online if Brody is in fact being tried as an adult so does anyone in chaska know what came out of the hearing Oct 1st?

No updates yet. As of today,

Mollee Francisco — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:40:56 -0500

No updates yet. As of today, the charges against Bermel are still listed as first and second degree assault. We will update this story as appropriate.

(Mollee Francisco is a staff writer for the Chaska Herald. She can be reached at mfrancisco@swpub.com.)

since I am not from this

awilliams1163 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:24:31 -0500

since I am not from this area has there been any news on how this case is proceeding?

Wow, where do I begin? First

Cousin of JR — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:57:58 -0500

Wow, where do I begin? First off I want to thank everyone that has thought of us "the family"..
You know after being back in my hometown this last weekend laying my cousin to rest, my mind did nothing but wonder why? We all have made some mistakes but no mistake is worth taking a life over...None of us will ever know what truely happened that awful night and hopefully the truth will come out soon enough. It bugs me alot to wonder if all the focus that Brodey is getting is where the focus should be, noone has even mentioned the fact that maybe just maybe he didn't do anything at all...He is only 16 and could take the blame and get off alot easier than a grown women..I find it odd that my cousin fell and "cracked his skull on concert that was not even around" so the story from Sheree...Where in the hell does the pipe come from? You know had it been a fair fight JR may have taken a shot or two but would not have ended up the loser here, I have never heard of a boxer using anything else to fight with but his fists.
His funeral was one of the hardest things I have been through in life yet, hearing his little girl cry for her daddy watching his father and mother shed many tears and his sister trimble as she looked at pictures of their childhood. This was so wrong so very very wrong and I hope that when the truth comes out which everyone truely did it spends the rest of their life setting in a cell and thinking everyday just what they couldve done so very different...And to the one that stated KARMA is a bitch---you better believe it...
Fact here is that JR will be missed so very much, and it makes us all think once again just how short life can be..

Today in a alittle over an

awilliams1163 — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:14:46 -0500

Today in a alittle over an hour I will bury my nephew, Kirk. His life was cut short because of a choice made by another. We only can hope that the truth comes out and everyone can begin to heal. I pray that Brody's life will not be ruined as well. However, our justice system will do its job and we can only hope that another life isn't wasted. i hope we all learn a very important lesson about choices made when angry and/or under the influence of alchol because this tragedy doesn't need to happen again for another family. i know we have all been affected and yes we are angry but we must start to heal and begin to move forward. I hope we never forget the lives that have been lost to violence and/or alcohol. God bless all the people involved because their lives are forever changed too.

First I would like to say to

Griffdaddy13 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:07:59 -0500

First I would like to say to those of you so filled with venom towards Brody, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I don't know Brody, but I know his mother, and I knew Kirk. I had come to think of him as a friend, and I will miss him. I also know that he was an angry man. A 6'2" angry, powerful man with too much to drink, threatening to kill a 16-year-old boy. A boy protecting himself and his mother. No, Kirk did not deserve to die. He did, however, fall victim to the consequences of his own choices. Before you condemn Brody, maybe you should wait to hear the details, instead of a little first article newsprint. I mean, God knows the newspaper is always right. Kirk had a lot of rage, and it tended to come out when he drank too much. The saddest thing about that is that he had been trying to stop. He was doing quite well for a while. He was also on some relatively heavy medication for an injured back. 1 or 2 drinks, which is what he had been trying to limit himself to, may have hit him like a ton of bricks. To all you self-righteous uninformed, bloodthirsty fools, "Judge not, lest ye be judged in return." To Kirk, I hope you've found some peace. Goodbye my friend. To Brody, I'm not sure what to think. A man is dead by your hand, but I don't believe you meant to kill him. I can only hope for justice, and only God can decide what is truly just. Justice is what I will pray for. To Sheree, try to be strong. We miss you at break time. I understand what you've lost(to some extent) and my heart weeps for you. Come visit when you're up to it. To Kirk's family, I'm sorry for your loss, but I think it's time you admit to yourselves that Kirk had reasons for his rage, and ask God for a little forgiveness of your own. God bless you all. His will be done.

Thank you so much for not

awilliams1163 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:18:35 -0500

Thank you so much for not hating Kirk aka JR. It means alot to me and the rest of his family. god bless you ans yours.
alice

You have not offended me in

Bob7336 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:15 -0500

You have not offended me in any way. I understand your hurt. I live with the thought of Sean every day. I also am working with ex-offenders one on one as a mentor with a new organization called "The Mentor Corp" and I have privately dedicated this effort in Sean's memory. Hopefully each of us can touch a life and help them become productive and happy people.

I think we both have many questions as to why our loved ones died. I can only suppose what their lives could have been like without the disruptive force that alcohol was. But for now I will pray for you and your family.

Hello Bob I want to say I am

awilliams1163 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:18:39 -0500

Hello Bob
I want to say I am terribly sorry for your son's tragic death. I hope like you I can become a better person and forgive Brody one day. I work with ex-offenders exiting prison so they can become productive members of society. So I do know something about what I say. I don't know exactly what role Kirk played in your sons death but buying alchol for minors is NEVER a good idea. I had a family member do that back in the 80's and his friend was decapated when he hit a hay baler that was on the other side of the hill. My family member has never forgiven himself and his life has been forever changed. I have children and it makes me mad when I find that they got alcohol from an adult friend. My son is going through a DWI at 20 and all I could think of for the longest time was he could have been killed or killed an innocent person, which happens so often. However this tragedy with Kirk has made me look at working mor with the children trying to save them from these very things that you and I have had to live through. I am having alot of issues with the brutality that was commited and I wonder why the police took so long to arrive and why the mother didn't stop it before it got that far. I also wonder what Brody's family life was like that would push him to commiting such a brutal assault. I feel sorry for everyone but having JR's name slandered has crippled this family. JR was far from perfect but I believe he was trying harder to change but we will never know that for sure now. i agree when a family memeber is abusing drugs or alcohol, or both family needs to step in and get them help. Yes, the addict may be angry at first but in time they will forgive us for making them get help. I know this is true because I worked narcotics for many years and put many people in prison because it was the only way to get them help. But believe it or not they have all thanked me for saving their lives. I just want to be sure JR didn't suffer alot before he passed away. it is killing me to think of the pain he must have felt. i have never judged a person on where they live because trailer parks can be decent places to live. All I have left is my memories of JR as a child and I don't want them tarnished anymore by the insensitivity of others who are without sin that are judging him. Please except my apologies if I offended you or your family, I am hurting really bad right now. God bless you.

I am the father of Sean

Bob7336 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:25:48 -0500

I am the father of Sean Humphrey and reading the comments about this story has troubled me.

I first want to offer my sincere and deepest sympathy to Kirk's family. Losing a son, brother, father, or loved one is a loss that cannot be described and you have my thoughts and prayers.

I also want to state that whatever the role Kirk and others had in Sean’s death, both my wife and myself have forgiven them. Several of them were indeed punished for furnishing the alcohol and ultimately Sean is the one who drank and then suffered the ultimate consequence for his action.

What has prompted me to comment is that again drugs or alcohol seems to be at the root of another tragedy in our community.

Within the last few years, the murder of Nancy Everson, the death of Sean, and now possibly Kirk had drugs or alcohol as a contributing factor.

It saddens me that as a community and a society we are not changing our behaviors and learning any lessons from these events. People need to be aware of their limitations and be responsible not only to themselves but friends and family. Then when needed, we should to take action when a friend or family member is abusing drugs or alcohol. I think of the DWI’s, domestic abuse, and accidents that occur daily because of drugs or alcohol abuse. We all have a responsibility to help curb this outbreak.

I have not talked to Kirk in over a year and a half and cannot speak to any part of his life, but now he is gone and the lives of his family and the lives of Brody Bermel and his family are changed forever. Comments about this event that demean others and cause strife are counterproductive and hurtful. Let’s instead offer our support, sympathy and prayers to the families and take stock in our own lives to make sure tragedies like this do not happen again.

Bob Humphrey

Chaska teen faces charges after fatal assault

Mollee Francisco — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:02:41 -0500

Details about an alleged brutal assault that took place in Chaska’s Brandondale neighborhood last week are being revealed, as the Carver County Attorney’s Office pursues charges against a Chaska teen accused of beating a man with a pipe, resulting in his death.